Take-up for sewing-machines



(No Model.) 2 Sheets'Sheet 1.

J. BOLTON.

TAKE-UV]? FOR SEWING MACHINES. N0. 420,034. Patented Ja'n. 28, 1890.

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(No Model.)

J. BOLTON. TAKE-UP FOR SEWING MACHINES.

Patented Jan. 28, 1890.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES 'BOLTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TAKE-UP FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 420,034, dated January28, 1890.

Serial No. 308,824. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that 1, JAMES BOLTON, a citi-1 zen "of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,; haveinvented certain new and. useful Im-s provementsinTake-UpsforSewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, ref-f erencebeing had therein toithe accompanying drawings.

In the operation of high-speed lock-stitchsewing machines employingcam-operated take-ups the wear of the cams or the cam-; slotted arms isso great that these parts require frequent renewals, the wear being un-;equal and greatest at the points of sharpest; curves in the cams orcam-slotted arms.

The object of my invention is to obviate; this difficulty by providing atake-up m'ech-; anism more especially adapted for high-speed machines inwhich the take-up is operated by a rotating crank-pin working in astraight slot in a take-up-operating arm, the arrange-; ment of theparts. being such that a perfect; timing of the take-up issecuredwithout theg assistance of an auxiliary'take-up.

of the head of a sewing-machine with my 1111-; proved take-up appliedthereto. Fig. 2.is aisectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is adet'ail;view illustrating a slightly-different forinof thread-retainer from thatshown in Fig. 2., Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the take-f uprock-shaft and its operating and take-up arms. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 arefront views of the head, with the face-plate removed, show-@ spring 6are or may be of ordinary construe-l tion.

F is the take-up rock-shaft journaled in, the upper part of the headabove the main shaft B, and preferably central over said shaft B, saidrock-shaft F being provided with a slotted operating-arm f and a take-uparm f, both of which extend in the same di-; "rection from said shaftand preferably distance a thread-retaining space.

. In the drawings, Figure 1 1s a front view I rectly in line with eachother, or approximately so.

The needle-bar pitman c is provided with an extension g, carrying aroller-stud h,'work ing in the slot of the arm f, said slot beingstraight, as shown. The take-up arm f,is provided in the presentinstance with an open hook f working beneath a thread-retainerconsisting, preferably, of one or two rigid plates having curved loweredges correspond= ing to the arc in which the take-up hook swings. Ifbut a single plate 'i be employed, as shown in Fig. 2, the face-plate a,will be provided with a groove to for the reception a of the end of thetake-up hook, while if two plates '5 be employed, as shown in Fig. 3,the face-plate will be plain, the inner end of the take-up hookextending inside of the outer surface of the inner plate 2'. Y. J

The single-thread-retaining plate 41, Fig. 2, is separated from theface-plate a distance about equal to the diameter of a thread, and theplates 2', Fig. 3, are separated from each other this same distance,forming in each in- VVhen the thread is drawn taut it can move freely inthe thread-retaining space with little or no friction; but when entirelyrelieved from strain its twist will kink or slightly. expand it, so thatthe rigid plate or plates will exert a slight frictionon it sufficientto hold it where it may be left by the take-up and until positivelydrawn down by the needle or shuttle.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The needle having descendedthrough the work and thrown out its loop, the latter is seized andexpanded by the shuttle, which passes into it in the usual manner, andduring these operations the take-up arm or lever f (or take-up proper)has swung from the position shown in Fig. 7 to the position shown inFigs. 1 and 5. In Fig. 1 it will be observed that the take-up hook issome little distance beyond or to the left of the thread running fromthe tension device to the threadguide eye It on the face of the plate a,and that the needle has risen above'the work. As the needle continues toascenchthe shuttle continues its passage through the loop ofneedlethread, and by the time it is farenough through to permit theoperation of tightening the stitch to commence the takeup has moved fromthe position shown in Figs. 1 and to the position shown in Fig. 6,

. olution of the shaft B the take-up moves from the position shown inFig. 6 to the position in Fig. 7, thus quickly effecting the take-upoperation and tightening the stitch. When the parts have reached theposition shown in Fig. 7, the needle has begun its descent for the nextstitch, and as it continues its downward movement the thread isslackened, and it immediately kinks or enlarges suificiently to be heldby the rigid thread retainer afiorded by the plate or plates 2', beneathor between the forward part or parts of which it was drawn by the takeupas the latter swung forward. Thus as the needle descends the thread isheld from sagging in the way of the point thereof, but is. free to bedrawn down as wanted by the shuttle as the loop for the stitch about tobe made is expanded. \Vhen the take-up approaches the position shown byFig. 7, at which position the final pull on the thread to tighten thestitch is given, the stud It has traveled down the slotted operatingarmf a little distance, so that it is not so near the rock-shaft F as itwas during the earlier part of the take-up movement, when there was butlittle strain on the thread, and as the said stud is also travelingapproximately in the direction of the slot of the arm f when this finalpull is given the purchase is great and the movement of the take-up armis slow at the moment when the greatest strain comes. After the stitchis tightened the stud it continues its downward movement in the slot ofthe arm f, allowing the take-up to pause for an instant and then swingback comparatively slowly, the stud h in the backward movement of thetake-up being at or nearthe outer end of the operating-arm f, and thusat its greatest distance from the center of movement of the take-up arm.When near the end of its backward movement and when the operating end ofthe take-up arm is beyondthe lineof thread running from the tensiondevice to the guide-eye is, said take-up arm is also moving Very slowly,so that in the lostlnotion position beyond said thread-line considerabletime is gained to enable the shuttle to pass the needle-loop and thussecure a proper timing of the take-up. By extending the two arms of thetake-up rock-shaftin the same direction from said shaft, so that theyare in line or approximately so, I am enabled to get a perfectly-timedtake-up actuated from the rotating stud or crank-pin working in astraight slot in the operating-arm of said rock-shaft without the use ofacam or a camslotted arm. I thus producea properly-timed take-up adaptedfor co-operation with oscillating or rotating shuttles requiring largeloops of needle-thread as well as with other shuttles, and which take-updoes not require the assistance, to get the proper timing, of anauxiliary take-up or thread-controller such as is required by thetake-up shown by United States Patent No. 345,683, or a cam-slotted armsuch as is employed in the take-up shown by United States Patent No.399,949, in which latter device the assistance of an auxiliary take-upis also necessary.

The rigid thread-retainer in the two forms shown in-Figs.2 and 3consists in both instances of two rigid plates slightly separated fromeach other. In the form shown in Fig. 2 these two rigid separatedplatesconsist of the plate 71 and the face-plate a, and inthe form shown inFig. 3 the rigid thread-retainer consists of the two separated platesThese plates '6, being of thin metal, are of course only relatively, notabsolutely, rigid, the term rigid as herein used being understood tomean a plate not pressing on the thread by spring-pressure, as I rely onthe elasticity of the thread, which kinks or expands when strain thereonis relaxed, to adapt it to be lightly held by the rigid thread-retainer.It will, however, be understood that any suitable or well-known form ofspring thread-retainer may be employed in connection with my improvedtake-up, consisting of a rock shaft with a straight slottedoperating-arm and a take-up arm, both extending in the same direction,instead of the rigid thread re tainer herein described, if desired, andin using my improved take-up constructed. as just referred to, or withthe two arms of the take-up rock-shaft extending in the same direction,with any forms of shuttles, excepting oscillating or rotating shuttleshaving long beaks,;the thread-retainer may be dispensed with altogether.y 4

It will be observed from the foregoing des'cription that as the take-uparm or lever f moves backward or to the left of the line of the threadrunning from the tension device (wh ieh is in one sense a thread-guideor thread guiding device) to the guide=eye k sufficient lost motion tosecure the proper timing in taking uplarge loops, such as are requiredfor oscillating or rotating shuttles, is afforded, and with this lostmotion an open thread-hook: f or a long slotted eye is necessary. Thisfeature of arranging the parts so that the take-up arm swings backwardbeyond the thread-line between two thread-guides onthe face-plate Iregard as important, as it enables my take up to be used with a greatervariety of shuttles than it otherwise could be, and thus gives it a widerange of usefulnessg but in using my improved take-up on a machinehaving a cylindrical or other shuttle not 'requirin g such large loopsthe throw of the take up arm need not be so great, and need nottherefore, have this lost motion, and in such cases the operatingcrank-pin or stud maybe coincident with the needle-bar-pitman crankpin,or may even be on the pitman below its operating crank-pin, instead ofbeing 011 an extension above the pitman crank-pin, as in the presentcase. Such modified arrangements of the crank-pin or stud for operatingthe take-up are shown in the detail views, Figs. 8 and 9.

I claim- 1. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the head and arotating stud or crankpin within the latter, of a take-11p rock-shaftjournaled at the upper part of said head and having an operating-armprovided with a straight slot receiving said stud or crank-pin and witha take-up arm, said arms both extending in the same direction from saidrockshaft and being thus in line with each other, or approximately so.

2. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the head, the main shaft,and the needlebar connected with the latter, of a take-up rock-shaftjournaled in said head centrally over-said main shaft and provided withan operating-arm having a straight slot, and with a take-up arm, and arotating crank-pin or stud working in the said straight slot to operatesaid rock-shaft.

3. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the head, and a vibratorytake-up arm having a hook or projection to engage the thread when movingin one directiononly, of a thread-retainer arranged adjacent to the pathof the said take-up hook or projection and consisting of two rigid andslightly-separated plates.

4. In a sewing-machine, the. combination, with the head A, of the mainshaft 13, its crank Z), the needle-bar O, the pitman c, having also thetake-up arm f, said operating and take-up arms both extending in thesame direction from said shaft.

5. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the head A, of the mainshaft B, its crank Z), the needle-bar G, the pitman c, having theextension g, provided with the crankpin or stud h, the take-uprock-shaft F, journaled above said shaft B and having operating-arm f,provided with a straight slot receiving said crank-pin or stud h, andhaving also the take-up arm f, said operating and take-up arms bothextending in the same direction from said shaft, and the thread-retaineradjacent to the path of movement of the free end of the take-up arm andconsisting of two rigid and slightly-separated plates.

6. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the head and face-plate,the latter being provided with two thread-guides or threadguidingdevices, of a take-up rock-shaftjournaled in the upper part of said headandpro-- vided with a take-up arm and an operatingarm having a straightslot, both of which arms extend in the same direction from saidrock-shaft, and a rotating stud or crank-pin working in said slotted armand serving to operate said take-up arm and swing the latter backwardbeyond the line of the thread running between said thread-guidingdevices. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JAMES BOLTON.

Witnesses HENRY OALVER. EWELL A. DICK.

